Mercy Killing or Just Plain Killing: The Euthanasia Debate For as long as people have been around, we have been dying. While this very well may seem to be pointing out the obvious, so many of us forget that we, as humans, are mortal beings. Our life span is definitely finite, and it should be. Just think what would happen if nobody ever died. Even though we are mortal, we try to hang onto our lives as long as we can. Fear of death and wanting to live forever are, after all, part of human nature....

Euthanasia: People Should Have the Right to Choose There are many sides to the dilemma of whether or not euthanasia should be carried out. There is the question of morality, the question of active versus passive euthanasia and the question of when euthanasia should be put into use. None of these questions are totally cut and dry. There seem to be more gray areas within this issue than there are black and white. Yet when you look at the problem on a personal level with the actual individuals invo...

James Rachels' Death and Dying James Rachels is one of the most controversial philosophers talked about in today's society. One of his most talked about topics is whether a person hasa right to die or not. Not much is known about Rachels expect for the many articles and books he has written. In the controversy of letting a person die or killing him, he does not try to explain which method is good and which method is bad. He however tries to explain why they both are bad to a certain degree. Rach...

The Right to Die The word Euthanasia originated from the Greek language: eu means 'good' and thanatos means 'death'. Euthanasia (Greek, 'good death') is the practice of killing a person or animal, in a painless or minimally painful way, for merciful reasons, usually to end their suffering. However, some people define euthanasia to include both voluntary and involuntary termination of life (Humphy 12). Like so many moral / ethical /religious terms, 'euthanasia' has many meanings. Euthanasia, in t...

Euthanasia The modern legalization of Murder Euthanasia (better known as murder) robs one of a natural death. If Euthanasia is legalized, then it should be carefully regulated and practiced by a competent individual, not of the medical society, in that person's home with family member's consent and presence. If Euthanasia is not regulated carefully, then medical institutions will abuse this practice and consider Euthanasia an acceptable way of lowering health costs and giving up hope on a sick i...

Regulation and Reform of Euthanasia Throughout the twentieth century, major scientific and medical advances have greatly enhanced the life expectancy of the average person. However, there are many instances where doctors can preserve life artificially. In these cases, where the patient suffers from a terminal disease or remains in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), the question becomes whether to prolong their life even though it may consist of pain and suffering. One of the landmark cases tha...

EUTHANASIA IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Years ago, talking about death was a social taboo. Although, some civilizations have not open their minds that much, each day more people have opened their minds to a new way of looking at death. People have realized that as humans, they are not here to suffer; instead, they are here to enjoy life. Euthanasia is a word that in the past years has appeared on the media. Cases appeared each day, and people are not still reacting to it in a good way, probably because ...

One of the biggest controversies of this decade is euthanasia. Euthanasia is killing, killing in the name of compassion and mercy. Euthanasia extends the license of state permitted killing; when permitted, it allows one human being to kill another. Its advocates present euthanasia as a caring, merciful, humane act. Its advocates employ a two-pronged strategy claiming: 1) that it should be "legalized" by the legislature, and 2) that it is a fundamental constitutional right. There are four types o...

Euthanasia is not a new issue. The question of whether doctors should be allowed to end a life under certain circumstances has been around for years. In my opinion euthanasia should be legalized if the relevant guidelines are put in place. In Britain groups supporting euthanasia have been around since 1935 and in the USA since 1938. Today no agreement can be found either way. Euthanasia can refer to two things: euthanasia and assisted suicide. For a definition we need to look at the final action...

The question, should euthanasia be legalized can be put into a category with should we go to war with Iraq? Or should we continue to use capital punishment? Only an individual can answer these very emotional questions for himself or herself based on whatever factors he or she chooses to use. I feel life is very sacred and should not be taken lightly, but I also understand life is different for every person. It can be painful beyond belief; it can be extremely depressing; therefore, I believe peo...